In this day and age of trying to decipher possible coded naughty intent across a would be (and now is) Supreme Court Judge’s old high school year book, and in the full blush of #MeToo it might be in bad taste for me to point out the obvious of what I witnessed at Comic Con this past weekend. But I have never been known for exercising good taste and I’d be no good to anybody if I wasn’t honest. So here goes…

I happen to think it is very cool when young women and even men (although I don’t level that much consideration on young men, seeing that I’m a hetero guy) bare their bodies in superhero outfits, and cosplay costumes. Down at the sprawling geek-fest that happened at our own Javitz Center the weekend of Oct.4^th-7^th, all manner of comely, firm and beautifully bouncing body parts were revealed in latex, Lycra, leather and it was a display that warmed my heart.

To say this gathering has grown since the last time I reported on it for S&S (by my fading memory, at least a good five years) would be an understatement. As one attendee told me as I sat with my intrepid S&SNYC.COM photographer munching yummy jacked-up mac & cheese, he had heard that last year NYC’s Comic Con broke the attendance record usually set by the better known and originator, Comic Con San Diego. There really were lots of folks here and for the purposes of this naughty-based recap, I’m focusing on the fun of the sexy frockery; the blush of a thong-ed backside or beefy pecs, and how much the people showing-off all this skin seemed to so love doing so.

Maybe it’s that at Comic Con all are gathered for pretty much the same thing; to celebrate anime, comics, fantasy movies and superheroes. Maybe it’s simply that people dressing or those like me gawking are entering into a unspoken bond of “Yes, I am dressing this way, I want you to look.” balanced with a healthy, “Ok then, I’m gonna look and even let you know that I am.” Or maybe, for the brief time a Poison Ivy is showing off some deep green cleavage or some faux Aquaman is strutting his muscled and rather fantastically bared muscular thighs, these folks dressing up are enjoying the thrill of dressing, and acting, a part they will never realize in real life. And, maybe, because of these reasons (and many more a sociologist could probably fathom) the ‘sexuality’ of all this flashing flesh rolls over the looker and revealer both in some way that we remember, despite all that has gone on lately in our society especially between men and women (sorry, I’m still walking the hetero side of the street here) that we work via a biological determinism, which pretty much sets us all to like looking at that which attracts us, be it bared, pushed-up, painted over or rouged.

Whatever the reason, as you will see here, and as I can attest, not only did the scantily clad or the sexy cosplayer outfit themselves well, they liked showing themselves off. This was a ‘safe zone,’ if you will, where one could bare what they wanted, others could gawk and take pictures and each party appreciated the other for what they were bringing to the festivities. I saw nothing but complete and utter celebration and enjoyment of that which one popped out and what one bugged their eyes out over. There was no sneaking a peak here, snapping a quick cell phone shot while somebody wasn’t looking. A pro photographer or some little kid snapping with his cell phone simply called out the character’s name or names, the person or group turned towards you, and you could look, compliment and take a picture to your hearts content..

I hear critics of these kind of gatherings I often ask: “Why do people dress like this? Young women showing their body parts off runs counter to the message we should be pushing in society today about womens empowerment. Isn’t this all libido run amok in the guise of geekdom?” All I can answer, if my answer matters at all, is, that what I witnessed at this Comic Con, as much as what I see at the kink conventions I teach at where ladies and men come dressed as ponies, bare almost all of themselves save for a tail inserted (you can guess where) are folks exercising their freedom to do what they wish in a space totally appropriate for it. Be one an exhibitionist at heart (or a voyeur), a wonderful costume maker wishing to show-off a creation (don’t get me started on some of the non-sexy amazing costumes I saw over the weekend!) or just wanting to be part of the see-and-be-scene, the Javitz was the time and the place this weekend to let it all hang out.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the whole world could be like Comic Con?